A Novel Sodium-Potassium Anode Supported by Fluorinated Aluminum Foam.

Sodium-potassium (NaK) liquid alloy is a promising candidate for use as an anode material in sodium batteries because of its fluidity, which effectively suppresses the growth of sodium or potassium dendrites. However, the poor wettability of NaK alloy on conventional metal substrates is unfavorable for cell fabrication due to its strong surface tension. In this paper, low-density and low-cost fluorinated aluminum foam is used as a substrate support material for NaK liquid alloy. By combining low-surface-tension NaKC with fluorinated aluminum foam, we obtain a uniformly distributed and structurally stable electrode material. The composite electrode has a cycling stability of more than 3000 h in a symmetrical cell. Furthermore, when coupled with a sulfurized polyacrylonitrile cathode in carbonate electrolyte, it maintains excellent stability even after 800 cycles, with 72% of capacity retention.

High-surface-area corundum nanoparticles by resistive hotspot-induced phase transformation.

High-surface-area α-Al2O3 nanoparticles are used in high-strength ceramics and stable catalyst supports. The production of α-Al2O3 by phase transformation from γ-Al2O3 is hampered by a high activation energy barrier, which usually requires extended high-temperature annealing (~1500 K, > 10 h) and suffers from aggregation. Here, we report the synthesis of dehydrated α-Al2O3 nanoparticles (phase purity ~100%, particle size ~23 nm, surface area ~65 m2 g-1) by a pulsed direct current Joule heating of γ-Al2O3. The phase transformation is completed at a reduced bulk temperature and duration (~573 K, < 1 s) via an intermediate δ'-Al2O3 phase. Numerical simulations reveal the resistive hotspot-induced local heating in the pulsed current process enables the rapid transformation. Theoretical calculations show the topotactic transition (from γ- to δ'- to α-Al2O3) is driven by their surface energy differences. The α-Al2O3 nanoparticles are sintered to nanograined ceramics with hardness superior to commercial alumina and approaching that of sapphire.

Penetrance of male breast cancer susceptibility genes: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: Several male breast cancer (MBC) susceptibility genes have been identified, but the MBC risk for individuals with a pathogenic variant in each of these genes (i.e., penetrance) remains unclear. We conducted a systematic review of studies reporting the penetrance of MBC susceptibility genes to better summarize current estimates of penetrance. METHODS: A search query was developed to identify MBC-related papers indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE. A validated natural language processing method was applied to identify papers reporting penetrance estimates. These penetrance studies' bibliographies were reviewed to ensure comprehensiveness. We accessed the potential ascertainment bias for each enrolled study. RESULTS: Fifteen penetrance studies were identified from 12,182 abstracts, covering five purported MBC susceptibility genes: ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, and PALB2. Cohort (n = 6, 40%) and case-control (n = 5, 33%) studies were the two most common study designs, followed by family-based (n = 3, 20%), and a kin-cohort study (n = 1, 7%). Seven of the 15 studies (47%) adjusted for ascertainment adequately and therefore the MBC risks reported by these seven studies can be considered applicable to the general population. Based on these seven studies, we found pathogenic variants in ATM, BRCA2, CHEK2 c.1100delC, and PALB2 show an increased risk for MBC. The association between BRCA1 and MBC was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: This work supports the conclusion that pathogenic variants in ATM, BRCA2, CHEK2 c.1100delC, and PALB2 increase the risk of MBC, whereas pathogenic variants in BRCA1 may not be associated with increased MBC risk.

Search Behavior Regarding Cancer Susceptibility Genes Using a Clinical Decision Support Tool for Gene-Specific Penetrance: Content Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Genetic testing for germline cancer susceptibility genes is widely available. The Ask2Me.org (All Syndromes Known to Man Evaluator) tool is a clinical decision support tool that provides evidence-based risk predictions for individuals with pathogenic variants in cancer susceptibility genes. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to understand the search behavior of the Ask2Me.org tool users, identify the patterns of queries entered, and discuss how to further improve the tool. METHODS: We analyzed the Ask2Me.org user-generated queries collected between December 12, 2018, and October 8, 2019. The gene frequencies of the user-generated queries were compared with previously published panel testing data to assess the correspondence between usage and prevalence of pathogenic variants. The frequencies of prior cancer in the user-generated queries were compared with the most recent US population-based cancer incidence. RESULTS: A total of 10,085 search queries were evaluated. The average age submitted in the queries was 48.8 (SD 16.5) years, and 84.1% (8478/10,085) of the submitted queries were for females. BRCA2 (1671/10,085, 16.6%), BRCA1 (1627/10,085, 16.1%), CHEK2 (994/10,085, 9.9%), ATM (662/10,085, 6.6%), and APC (492/10,085, 4.9%) were the top 5 genes searched by users. There was a strong linear correlation between genes queried by users and the frequency of pathogenic variants reported in published panel testing data (r=0.95, r2=0.90, P<.001). Over half of the queries (5343/10,085, 53.0%) included a prior personal history of cancer. The frequencies of prior cancers in the queries on females were strongly correlated with US cancer incidences (r=0.97, r2=0.95, P<.001), while the same correlation was weaker among the queries on males (r=0.69, r2=0.47, P=.02). CONCLUSIONS: The patients entered in the Ask2Me.org tool are a representative cohort of patients with pathogenic variants in cancer susceptibility genes in the United States. While a majority of the queries were on breast cancer susceptibility genes, users also queried susceptibility genes with lower prevalence, which may represent a transformation from single gene testing to multigene panel testing. Owing to these changing tides, more efforts are needed to improve evidence-based clinical decision support tools to better aid clinicians and their practice.

Disease Spectrum of Breast Cancer Susceptibility Genes.

BACKGROUND: Pathogenic variants in cancer susceptibility genes can increase the risk of a spectrum of diseases, which clinicians must manage for their patients. We evaluated the disease spectrum of breast cancer susceptibility genes (BCSGs) with the aim of developing a comprehensive resource of gene-disease associations for clinicians. METHODS: Twelve genes (ATM, BARD1, BRCA1, BRCA2, CDH1, CHEK2, NF1, PALB2, PTEN, RECQL, STK11, and TP53), all of which have been conclusively established as BCSGs by the Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) and/or the NCCN guidelines, were investigated. The potential gene-disease associations for these 12 genes were verified and evaluated based on six genetic resources (ClinGen, NCCN, OMIM, Genetics Home Reference, GeneCards, and Gene-NCBI) and an additional literature review using a semiautomated natural language processing (NLP) abstract classification procedure. RESULTS: Forty-two diseases were found to be associated with one or more of the 12 BCSGs for a total of 86 gene-disease associations, of which 90% (78/86) were verified by ClinGen and/or NCCN. Four gene-disease associations could not be verified by either ClinGen or NCCN but were verified by at least three of the other four genetic resources. Four gene-disease associations were verified by the NLP procedure alone. CONCLUSION: This study is unique in that it systematically investigates the reported disease spectrum of BCSGs by surveying multiple genetic resources and the literature with the aim of developing a single consolidated, comprehensive resource for clinicians. This innovative approach provides a general guide for evaluating gene-disease associations for BCSGs, potentially improving the clinical management of at-risk individuals.

Disease spectrum of gastric cancer susceptibility genes.

Pathogenic variants in germline cancer susceptibility genes can increase the risk of a large number of diseases. Our study aims to assess the disease spectrum of gastric cancer susceptibility genes and to develop a comprehensive resource of gene-disease associations for clinicians. Twenty-seven potential germline gastric cancer susceptibility genes were identified from three review articles and from six commonly used genetic information resources. The diseases associated with each gene were evaluated via a semi-structured review of six genetic resources and an additional literature review using a natural language processing (NLP)-based procedure. Out of 27 candidate genes, 13 were identified as gastric cancer susceptibility genes (APC, ATM, BMPR1A, CDH1, CHEK2, EPCAM, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, MUTYH-Biallelic, PALB2, SMAD4, and STK11). A total of 145 gene-disease associations (with 45 unique diseases) were found to be associated with these 13 genes. Other gastrointestinal cancers were prominent among identified associations, with 11 of 13 gastric cancer susceptibility genes also associated with colorectal cancer, eight genes associated with pancreatic cancer, and seven genes associated with small intestine cancer. Gastric cancer susceptibility genes are frequently associated with other diseases as well as gastric cancer, with potential implications for how carriers of these genes are screened and managed. Unfortunately, commonly used genetic resources provide heterogeneous information with regard to these genes and their associated diseases, highlighting the importance of developing guides for clinicians that integrate data across available resources and the medical literature.

Non-medullary Thyroid Cancer Susceptibility Genes: Evidence and Disease Spectrum.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of non-medullary thyroid cancer (NMTC) is increasing worldwide. Although most NMTCs grow slowly, conventional therapies are less effective in advanced tumors. Approximately 5-15% of NMTCs have a significant germline genetic component. Awareness of the NMTC susceptibility genes may lead to earlier diagnosis and better cancer prevention. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to provide the current panorama of susceptibility genes associated with NMTC and the spectrum of diseases associated with these genes. METHODS: Twenty-five candidate genes were identified by searching for relevant studies in PubMed. Each candidate gene was carefully checked using six authoritative genetic resources: ClinGen, National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, Genetics Home Reference, GeneCards, and Gene-NCBI, and a validated natural language processing (NLP)-based literature review protocol was used to further assess gene-disease associations where there was ambiguity. RESULTS: Among 25 candidate genes, 10 (APC, DICER1, FOXE1, HABP2, NKX2-1, PRKAR1A, PTEN, SDHB, SDHD, and SRGAP1) were verified among the six genetic resources. Two additional genes, CHEK2 and SEC23B, were verified using the NLP protocol. Seventy-nine diseases were found to be associated with these 12 NMTC susceptibility genes. The following diseases were associated with more than one NMTC susceptibility gene: colorectal cancer, breast cancer, gastric cancer, kidney cancer, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, paraganglioma, pheochromocytoma, and benign skin conditions. CONCLUSION: Twelve genes predisposing to NMTC and their associated disease spectra were identified and verified. Clinicians should be aware that patients with certain pathogenic variants may require more aggressive surveillance beyond their thyroid cancer risk.

Natural language processing to facilitate breast cancer research and management.

The medical literature has been growing exponentially, and its size has become a barrier for physicians to locate and extract clinically useful information. As a promising solution, natural language processing (NLP), especially machine learning (ML)-based NLP is a technology that potentially provides a promising solution. ML-based NLP is based on training a computational algorithm with a large number of annotated examples to allow the computer to "learn" and "predict" the meaning of human language. Although NLP has been widely applied in industry and business, most physicians still are not aware of the huge potential of this technology in medicine, and the implementation of NLP in breast cancer research and management is fairly limited. With a real-world successful project of identifying penetrance papers for breast and other cancer susceptibility genes, this review illustrates how to train and evaluate an NLP-based medical abstract classifier, incorporate it into a semiautomatic meta-analysis procedure, and validate the effectiveness of this procedure. Other implementations of NLP technology in breast cancer research, such as parsing pathology reports and mining electronic healthcare records, are also discussed. We hope this review will help breast cancer physicians and researchers to recognize, understand, and apply this technology to meet their own clinical or research needs.

Study of crystalline defect induced optical scattering loss inside photonic waveguides in UV-visible spectral wavelengths using volume current method.

In this work, we study the crystalline defect induced optical scattering loss inside photonic waveguide. Volume current method is implemented with a close form of dyadic Green's function derived. More specifically, threading dislocation induced scattering loss inside AlN waveguides in UV-visible spectrum wavelengths are studied since this material is intrinsically accompanied with high densities of dislocations (typically on order of 108-1010cm-2). The results from this study reveal that threading dislocations contribute significant amount of scattering loss when material is not MOCVD grown. Additionally, the scattering loss is strongly dependent on polarization and waveguide geometries: TM modes exhibit higher scattering loss compared with TE modes, and the multimode large core waveguides are more susceptible to threading dislocations compared with single mode waveguides and high-aspect-ratio waveguides. Conclusions from this work can be supported by several recently published investigations on III-N based photonic devices. The model derived from this work can also be easily altered to fit other material systems with other types of crystalline defects.

Steep-slope field-effect transistors with AlGaN/GaN HEMT and oxide-based threshold switching device.

We report the demonstration of a steep-slope field-effect transistor with AlGaN/GaN MIS-HEMTs employing SiO2-based threshold switching devices in series with the source. The SiO2-based threshold switching devices exhibited steep slope when changing resistance states. The integrated steep-slope transistor showed a low subthreshold swing of sub-5 mV/dec with a transition range of over 105 in the transfer characteristics in both sweep directions at room temperature, as well as the low leakage current (10-5 µA µm-1) and a high I ON/I OFF ratio (>107). Moreover, with the SiO2-based threshold switching devices we also observed a positive shift of threshold voltages of the integrated device. Results from more than 50 transfer characteristics measurements also indicate the good repeatability and practicability of such a steep-switching device, where the average steep slopes are below 10 mV/decade. This steep-slope transistor with oxide-based threshold switching devices can be further extended to various transistor platforms like Si and III-V and are of potential interest for the development of power switching and high frequency devices.

Application of Video-Assisted Thyroidectomy for Cervicomediastinal Goiter.

BACKGROUND: In the past several decades we have seen that most cervicomediastinal goiters (CMGs) can be removed through a cervical lower collar incision, but in some circumstances a median sternotomy or a thoracotomy is mandatory. In the last few years, video-assisted thyroidectomy (VAT) has been developed, and the indications are that its usage is becoming more widespread. This study aimed to evaluate the technical feasibility and safety of VAT for CMG. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Over a 5-year period (2009-2014), 602 patients underwent conventional thyroidectomy (CT), and 356 cases underwent VAT in the Department of General Surgery, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. Among all those patients, 33 (3.4%) were diagnosed with CMGs and operated on. These patients were divided into two groups: the CT group included 18 patients, and the VAT group included 15 patients. The incision length, operative time, blood loss, hospitalization time, and postoperative complications were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: All 15 procedures in the VAT group were performed successfully with the help of endoscopy, whereas for 2 of the 18 patients (11.1%) in the CT group, a partial median sternotomy had to be done due to poor exposure and abnormal hemorrhage. Significant differences in the incisional length, operative time, and intraoperative blood loss occurred between the CT and VAT groups. The patients who underwent VAT had a better cosmetic result without going through an additional incision. There was no difference in the resected goiter weight between the two groups. The patients who underwent VAT recovered more rapidly and had a shorter hospitalization time than those in the CT group (P = .000). No significant difference was found in postoperative complications between the two different approaches. During a mean follow-up through 28 months (range, 3-66 months), no recurrence occurred. CONCLUSIONS: VAT is a safe and feasible approach for patients with CMG. The procedure has relatively satisfactory cosmetic effect and faster postoperative recovery.

Expression of FSH and its co-localization with FSH receptor and GnRH receptor in rat cerebellar cortex.

The expression of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and its receptor in extrapituitary and non-HPG axis tissues has been demonstrated and their non-reproductive functions in these tissues have been found. However, there have been no reports concerning the expression and function of FSH and its receptor in the cerebellum. In our study, immunofluorescence staining and in situ hybridization were used to detect the expression of FSH, double-labeled immunofluorescence staining was used to detect co-localization of FSH and its receptor and co-localization of FSH and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor in the rat cerebellar cortex. Results showed that some cells of the Purkinje cell layer, granular layer, and molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex showed both FSH immunoreactivity and FSH mRNA positive signals; not only for FSH and FSH receptor, but also for FSH and GnRH receptor co-localized in some cells throughout the Purkinje cell layer, granular layer, and molecular layer of the cerebellar cortex. These suggested that rat cerebellum could express FSH; cerebellum is a target tissue of FSH; FSH may exert certain functions through FSH receptor in a paracrine or autocrine manner; GnRH may regulate FSH positive cells through GnRH receptor in the cerebellum. Our study provides morphological evidence for further functional research on FSH and related hormones in the cerebellum.

Off-line analysis of single-unit neuronal discharge in the globus pallidus region in Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: The accuracy of microelectrode-guided localization can make the operation safe and effective, but only experienced neurosurgeons are capable of performing this operation. A good index to identify neuronal discharges between globus pallidus interna and globus pallidus externa is needed. The aim of this research was to establish a good and practical electrophysiologic index to distinguish neuronal discharge in the interior globus pallidus from neuronal discharge in the exterior globus pallidus region of the brain in Parkinson's disease. The effect of neurons having an atypical discharge on successful surgical localization was also quantitatively evaluated. METHODS: The study included 30 patients with primary Parkinson's disease who underwent pallidotomy between September 2000 and October 2002. During each pallidotomy, the neuronal discharges in the pallidum and its vicinity were recorded. The recorded spikes were used to calculate the frequency, burst index, pause index, and pause ratio of the single-unit discharge. The interior and exterior globus pallidus regions were compared in terms of frequency, burst index, pause index, and pause ratio. The sensitivity, specificity, false-negative ratio, false-positive ratio, and accuracy of those indices were then evaluated. RESULTS: The values of frequency, burst index, pause index, and pause ratio in the interior globus pallidus were (96 +/- 43) Hz, 2.31 +/- 1.81, 0.05 +/- 0.05, and 0.27 +/- 0.28, respectively, and in the exterior globus pallidus were (59 +/- 27) Hz, 0.88 +/- 0.63, 0.20 +/- 0.14, and 1.54 +/- 1.17, respectively. Use of the four indices to distinguish the two neuron types produced a sensitivity of 0.84, 0.78, 0.77, and 0.93 with a specificity of 0.64, 0.79, 0.88, and 0.87, respectively. The false-positive ratio was 0.36, 0.21, 0.12, and 0.13 and the false-negative ratio was 0.16, 0.22, 0.23, and 0.07 while the accuracy was 0.72, 0.79, 0.80, and 0.90, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Pause ratio is a relatively reliable index to distinguish neuronal discharges between the interior and exterior globus pallidus regions in Parkinson's disease. The effect of neurons with atypical discharge on the successful surgical localization would be reduced to 10% when the pause ratio is used as the index.